Upon arriving in New York, Niels and Amanda had been struck with an important realisation. Emi only had a baby nursery in the penthouse. While Emi slept in the guest bedroom, Niels and Amanda began conspicuously turning the once-nursery into a bedroom suited for their big girl. Every night, while Emi slept, they worked on repainting, and they eventually went to Ikea, leaving Emi in her grandparents' care while they were in town. They had to create the 'perfect' room. After all, it would be the room she'd sleep in, well into her teens. It had to be sweet, but not too mature, and girly, but not too pink. "Emi likes yellow too," Amanda mentioned as they browsed sheet sets. "Right," said Niels. "How about this one?" "Perfect." Amanda beamed. She was getting excited. They had a bed already chosen, and new furniture. Some furniture from the original nursery was also usable, other parts were moved to another room until they decided what to do with it. "Maybe Rico and Ceci would find it useful," Amanda suggested. Niels nodded in agreement. At last, Wednesday night, while Rosa, Teun and Aubrey were there, Amanda and Niels took Emi to the door of her new bedroom. "Ready?" they asked her. Emi looked perplexed. "Weady for what?" she asked. "You'll see," Niels said with a wink. He opened the bedroom door slowly, and Emi cautiously peeked inside. "Ooh!" she said after a while, looking around at her surroundings. "Is this mine?"
Amanda and Niels nodded, making Emi jump up and down with glee. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "I have a big giwl room!" Amanda smiled, admiring her daughter who was walking around the bedroom, touching everything. It was amazing how she'd grown from such a cute toddler to such a sweet little girl... their big girl.
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"Are you sure this is going to work?" Amanda asked Niels as he was heading out. "Nope," he said. Amanda frowned. Niels kissed her on the cheek and assured her that he'd try his best. He made sure that she was okay, and then he headed out. Rico arrived not much longer after and immediately, Amanda asked, "Is she suspicious?" Rico shrugged. "She gave me a look," he said admittedly. "But I told her I was working out some financial things for our house." He chuckled sheepishly and looked around. About an hour later, the guests mingled and the guest of honour, Ceci, arrived. She seemed truly surprised, tears coming to her eyes when she saw all the familiar faces from near and far there to celebrate with her. The penthouse was a pink and purple wonderland with balloons and banners everywhere. Amanda announced a few games. The ongoing one: don't say 'baby' or 'girl' or 'Ceci/Cecilia', and if guests did, they lost the mini clothespin they were given upon entrance. And then there was the 'guess the size of Ceci's belly' game, with the use of a ribbon to indicate the size. Amanda crossed her fingers that Ceci would like the look of the cake she'd made, but everyone seemed to care more about the taste anyway. At the end of the shower, when guests were starting to head off, Amanda gave Ceci a personal gift. "Trust me, you'd be more than thankful for this when the time comes," she told Ceci. "It's saved me many times." She giggled as Ceci examined all the parts. "It's not that bad, she assured, don't worry. Oh... and we have more gifts for baby girl. Now we get to be the aunty and uncle who spoils our niece," she said with a grin.
Amanda squealed at the developed photograph of Angelo back in Tuscany. It had been a wonderful family vacation, especially with the addition of the littlest sister, Aubrey. Both Aubrey and Angelo had enjoyed their first trip to the beautiful meadows. They'd enjoyed horseback riding almost as much as Emi, but they seemed to enjoy running freely even more. "Look at this one," said Amanda, sliding a picture of Emi on horseback closer to Niels. "Wow, that's a great shot," he said. Amanda smiled proudly. "Why thank you." She grinned and showed him another picture, Emi standing on the fence in this one. Even with her back to the camera, the little girl's personality shone through. Amanda placed that one in the album and pressed the photograph into a frame while Niels did the same for Angelo's pic. "Aaahw," Amanda said after a while. "We have to send these to our parents." She held up two pictures of Aubrey, one of her on horseback, and the other of her in the meadow, enjoying the warmth of the sun. "Indeed," Niels replied.
Amanda grinned. "We need one of these for our wall too." She sighed happily and looked around at the familiar settings of their Soho penthouse. It was so good to be back home where they could hang pictures again. Still, Amanda couldn't wait to return to Tuscany again someday. It was so hard to believe. 6 years. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world. Especially considering that, not only was it naptime for Aubrey and Angelo, but because Niels’ cousin had agreed to look after the kids for a few hours. The weekend had been fun-filled, but Amanda and Niels longed for some alone time. Away from tantrums, fussy babies and toddlers, and overly active children fighting for attention.
“Ready?” Niels asked, stepping into the bathroom before Amanda could finish fully dressing. “Hey!” Amanda shrieked, covering herself up. Niels laughed. “Not like I haven’t seen it all, already,” he said. Amanda joined in his laughter, but teasingly reminded him that no peeking was allowed. As she got dressed, she was all smiles. It was an especially nostalgic day. As they walked out of the house and stepped out into the fresh Tuscan air, they began to talk about all the lovely memories they’d created over the years. Their wedding day six years ago, their very impressive villa in Paris, Amanda’s first pregnancy, the birth of their first born, the birth of their second born. They even spoke of all the unpleasant things that they’d somehow survived. But overall, their lives were good. They brought the phrase ‘happily married’ to another dimension. Niels pulled her close once they were a distance from the house. “Look at that view,” he said. Amanda inhaled deeply. She loved the cascading hills, and the greenery all around. The way the rays of the sun touched the vast plain made it look almost mystical. Wrapping his arms around Amanda, Niels whispered, “Well… no kids for a few hours. What shall we do?” As they flew high above the clouds, Amanda was all smile... Well, when Angelo wasn't fussing to get out of the car seat or Aubrey wasn't asking to go to the potty. It was never an easy task flying with small children, and this time they had three! "That cloud looks like a ho'sie!" Emi declared, pointing to a random cloud that looked absolutely nothing like a horse.
Still, Amanda entertained her. "How cool is that?"she asked. "Ho'sie," Aubrey echoed, pointing to another cloud. Amanda chuckled. It felt great to finally be heading off on this eagerly anticipated vacation. They'd been talking about it for a while now, and Amanda hoped it'd be what they expected and more. The past week had been bizarre, yet rewarding in some ways. Marit had unexpectedly walked back into their lives, completely oblivious to the past. It had been like a fresh start, but at the same time Niels and Amanda felt bad that they couldn't help Marit reacquire her memories. There was no improvement. It seemed like nothing rang a bell to Marit. They could only hope that, now that she was in Teun and Rosa's care, that they would somehow work a miracle. "Hey," Niels gently said, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Stop thinking so much. Relax." Amanda sighed and offered him a genuine smile. "I am," she said. She leaned on her shoulder. Just as she started dozing off, she felt a little hand poking her. Looking down at Aubrey, she smiled at her. "What is it, sweetie." "I want to go potty," Aubrey told her. Niels laughed. "I got it," he said. He kissed Amanda's cheek and lifted Aubrey, taking her to the bathroom once again. About an hour later, they arrived in Rome. With a wide smile, Niels looked at his little family and announced, "Welcome to Rome, everyone." With the sun shining so beautifully and the birds singing a cheerful song, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take the kids and Ghost out for a stroll through the park. As always, Ghost sauntered away, in search of Kobe knows what. And as customary, Emi folowed behind him, bidding him to wait for her. Angelo wiggled in his father's arms, babbling his complaint about being set captive. As soon as he was released, he toddled after Emi. Between them, Aubrey still held their hands, smiling contentedly, a picture of perfection.
"It's about time we headed back home, isn't it?" Amanda asked after a while. "Away from London?" "Yeah, it probably is," Niels agreed. Amanda grinned. "How about a quick vacation in Tuscany before we head back home?" she asked. She beamed in excitement already, hoping her husband would agree. But as he opened his mouth to respond, they head a woman's blood-curdling scream. Amanda, Aubrey and Niels froze. Aubrey suddenly clung to Amanda's leg while Emi came running back into view, her eyes wide with fright. "Mummy! Daddy!" she yelled before she wrapped her arms tightly around Amanda's other leg. Angelo fussed and crawled back towards them, raising an arm to be lifted. "Baby..." Amanda called, looking at Niels. She bent to comfort the children while Niels went to investigate. After a while, Amanda stood, Angelo in her right arm, Aubrey clutching her left hand, and Emi still latched on to her leg. Amanda noticed that Niels seemed to have the situation in hand; he was speaking calmly to a woman who was clutching a tree, and Ghost was looking at her curiously. Amanda approached with caution. It took a moment before she recognised the redhead; her childhood BFF and estranged sister-in-law. Marit... The breath almost left her body. How long had it been? After some careful introductions, Marit looked at them as thought they each had seven heads. "I'm sorry, I don't know you..." she softly uttered. "There," Amanda remarked with a sigh of relief. She was grateful that the powers above had supplied a lovely spring day, warm enough to enjoy the festivities comfortably outside. Amanda and Niels began setting up for the party a couple of hours before its start. Meanwhile, Emi and Angelo played with Ghost and Nymeria, the family wolves keeping them entertained while Aunt Isa supervised.
At last, the decorations were complete, the table all set up, the desserts and refreshments ready. Meanwhile, Emilia was prancing around in her Alice in Wonderland dress. How many times had Amanda had to shout a reminder not to get her dress dirty or torn. How many times had Emi activated her puppy dog eyes and uttered an adorable apology. Amanda chuckled. "We brought an extra outfit for her, right?" she asked Niels. "I have a feeling, this one won't last these few hours in the park." At last, the first guests began to arrive. There was a lot planned: party favours, activities such as decorating individual mad hatter hats, lots of sweets (thank goodness the park would enable them to run off the sugar rush), and games galore. Somewhere in the midst of the festivities, the white of Emi's dress lost its white and they had to make a quick change, but the festivities continued as if nothing had occurred. What was important was that Emi and all of her friends were having a good time |
Amanda at a GlanceNames: Amanda Pontremoli, Amanda van Loon Archives
August 2017
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